The Ethics of Therapist Self Disclosure with Kenneth Hardy

Ethics II: NP0046 – Session 6

As a therapist do you wonder how much you should share with your clients in or out of therapy? Do you know where to draw the line between personal and professional questions? Join Ken Hardy as he explores the complexities of self-disclosure in therapy.

Dear Ken,
Thank you for your insights and honesty. I think you inadvertently named all the things that are so frustrating in the portrayal of the therapist in ‘In Treatment”. He comes across as anemic because his ‘neutrality’ bespeaks therapeutic distance purely in the service of the therapist. The earlier critical discussion of the role misses the point that Gabriel Byrne’s excellent acting captures the fact that Paul himself is really acting the role: where is the richness of his own self? I love Elizabeth Lesser’s chapter in her wonderful book ‘Broken Open” entitled ‘we are all bozos on the bus’ (thank you JG). As Jung pointed out long ago, any meeting of two people chemically changes them BOTH. Not to acknowledge such and embrace each other’s common humanity is at best disingenuous, at worst moral malpractice. Keep calling it please!
Thomas,
Vermont